Saint Drusus
“Saint Drusus. Born: 328.M39. Martyred 367.M39 by unknown heretical assassin on Maccabeus Quintus. Miraculously rose again after his death to complete the conquest of what was to become the Calixis Sector. Scourge of the Bale Childer. Bane of the Yu’vath. First Lord Calixis. Creator of the Corpus Presidium Calixis. Died (again) 417 M39. The greatest of the Sector’s saints, revered on dozens of worlds as second only to the Holy Emperor. Yet even the greatest Calixian saint had to commence his journey somewhere..." –Extract from the Book of Saints (Calixis Edition) Without a doubt the greatest of all the saints within the Calixis Sector, Drusus stands at the right hand of the Emperor in the hearts and minds of most Calixian citizenry. From early childhood, millions are taught the tales of the great general Drusus and his relentless armies. They learn of how he brought the light of the Emperor back to the sector and swept away the vile masses of xenos who had taken root. It is because of his efforts that the Calixis Sector exists today. The Ministorum makes sure that no one forgets his deeds and, wherever temples and shrines to the Emperor are raised, so too are statues of this saint. Likewise, few saints can boast a cult as large or powerful as Drusus and none can deny the influence that the cult has over all Calixian affairs. Though a mighty and cunning warlord, Drusus is best remembered and revered as an honest and courageous warrior. It is this purity of faith in the Emperor and the Imperium that soldiers will pray to before heading into battle. To invoke the name of Drusus is to ask for the righteous might of the Emperor to guide your hand. On some worlds entire regiments of Guardsmen are dedicated to the saint’s name, such as the 23rd Drusus Dragoons of Clove, who spend their days in prayer to the saint when they are not battling the enemies of the Imperium. Many combat training facilities have a likeness of the saint above their entrance and cadets are required to ask Drusus for his blessing before they enter. The greatest shrine to Drusus can be found within the Cathedral of Illumination on Scintilla. This is also the headquarters of his cult, where his followers gather from across the sector to discuss cult business. It is also the place where prospective cultists are brought to pledge their devotion to the saint, often in mass blessings many thousand strong. Within the cult, Drusus is second only to the Emperor and comes even before the leaders of the Ecclesiarchy. Of equal importance to the grand shrine on Scintilla is Maccabeus Quintus, sight of the near death of Drusus during the Angevin Crusade. Then there is Sentinel, an obscure shrine world, located in the Drusus Marches. Exactly why the world is holy to the saint is unclear; thousands make the pilgrimage there, often to die in the shadow of Drusus’s monument. It is also important to the cult, and any who would rise to the higher ranks within it must travel to the world and ask the saint’s blessing. Due to the dangers involved, reaching the world and returning safely is usually considered as “proof ” of the saint’s favor. 'In the Beginning' It is unclear where Drusus’s story begins and just what his origins are. In all likelihood, to stand at the side of Lord Angevin he would have had to be a high ranking noble of one of the Segmentum Noble Houses or a masterful General in his own right. The truth however has largely been lost, perhaps deliberately by the church who find the tales more useful to their teachings. Some of these tales are wild indeed. Legend claims that Drusus came to the crusade as a lowly guardsman, recruited from a remote world with no name. During a fierce battle against an alien world he caught the eye of Lord Angevin when he slew an alien king and single-handedly brought the world to heel. Angevin instantly made him a general and gave him a battle-group so that he might repeat his success. Less reputable sources claim that Drusus was in fact Angevin’s son, grown in an Adeptus Mechanicus vat farm from the great lord’s own flesh. He was intended to replace the lord should he fall before his task was complete but was brought to maturity too early and mistakenly sent to join the crusade. He made a great name for himself in battle, so Angevin made him a general and gave him the name of Drusus after his own long lost father. Clashing rumors state that Drusus was a wild primitive living on one of the worlds of the Calyx Expanse at the time of the crusade. When the Imperial troops descended on his world he had a holy vision and, armed with only a battered sword, joined the crusaders in their battle against his corrupt and heathen brethren. So taken was Angevin by the primitive’s, actions he gave him a place in his armies where he would thrive. What is accepted as fact is that Drusus first came to the Calixis Sector as part of the Angevin Crusade in 322.M39, a General in the great lord’s armies with the task of taming the wilds of this far flung region of space for the Imperium and the God-Emperor. 'Victories in His Name' Many of the worlds of the sector conquer to be the site of some battle or other won by the saint, and in many cases there are some grains of truth behind them as Drusus did claim scores of worlds with his armies. Some of the more extraordinary victories claimed in his name include: Drusus slew the thrice headed serpent of Marioch. Legends say that the wild frontier world was once plagued by a vast flying serpent, held aloft by great external lungs and scaly wings. As large as an Imperial Cruiser, the beast devoured whole towns in a single gulp and its hide was thick enough to turn even lascannon shot. Drusus eventually killed the creature by leading a platoon of soldiers into its maw while it slept and hacking his way to the creature’s heart to deliver the killing blow. Drusus liberated the world of Dreah from the Daemons of Dark Colour. Taking the form of brilliant colours, hues, and flickering mirages, the Daemons had for centuries enslaved most of its human populace and forced the remainder to hide below ground where the creatures of terrible light could not reach. In his war against the fiends Drusus purged the world of colour so that the daemons might have no place to hide. Drusus led the great charge against the Twisted Kings on Acreage. Legend says that when the crusade came to Acreage its feudal kingdoms were struggling under the yoke of mutant kings and their hulking armies of brutes. Gathering together the Dirt Knights of Yorth, Drusus led a mighty army to the gates of the palace of the Twisted Kings and shattered their armies in a single bloody day of fighting. What is known for sure is that Drusus’s leadership had a massive impact on the crusade and carved out much of the region that would become the Golgenna Reach as well as great tracts of space within the Drusus Marches such as Malfi and Maccabeus Quintus. 'Fall into Darkness' The tale of how Drusus fell is an often told one and a central part of the saint’s legend. While some facts are known, much is not, and there are many versions of just how this miracle transpired: Drusus was betrayed by his fellow generals; jealous of his glory they deployed a Temple Assassin against him, warped and disguised to appear as a tool of the enemy. However, when the assassin struck, it was not able to complete the killing blow as a last shred of its indoctrination and faith in the Emperor remained and it recognised Drusus as a true instrument of the God-Emperor. Drusus was slain by a daemonic assassin summoned from the warp by agents of the ruinous powers, which has long used the Calyx Expanse as a sanctuary. As it dealt the killing blow however the daemon was splashed in the blood of the saint which consumed him in flames with its holy might, its last vision one of the light of the Emperor filling Drusus and closing his wounds as he lay on the ground. Drusus was killed by the Yu’vath, aliens who had spent years infiltrating his bodyguard with Dark Lamenters. In a single bloody night the aliens dispatched hundreds of possessed warriors against Drusus, dragging him down with sheer numbers. Even as he died however the divine power of the Emperor filled Drusus and the possessed men fell upon their own weapons weeping with regret at their actions. What is generally accepted is that a potent assassin of the Imperium’s enemies tried to kill Drusus as he rested on Maccabeus Quintus but was destroyed by the power of the God-Emperor, a power which also restored Drusus to life even as he lay dying from the assassin’s blade. From this point on there could be no doubt as to his divine greatness. 'Rebirth and Legacy' After his resurrection, Drusus went on to win many more battles in the name of the Emperor and to leave a lasting legacy of Imperial rule in his wake. For five decades until his death in 417.M39, the saint consolidated the power of the Imperium within the sector and took on the mantle of the first Sector Lord. He personally ended alien domination over the sector’s worlds and stood witness to the end of numerous xenos civilizations, such as when he famously watched the Yu’vath homeworld burn from the bridge of his Battle Barge. Today, the legend of the saint remains strong and his mark can be seen on almost every world within the sector. The Cult of Drusus is the largest and most powerful within the Imperial Creed; numerous cities, ships and regiments bear his name; and even the sector laws laid down millennia ago still bear his signature. It seems that while there is a Calixis Sector there will always be a Saint Drusus to watch over it. 'Drusianism' Besides the Emperor, the figure most revered by the faithful of Calixis is Saint Drusus---the warrior turned saint who fought for the birth of the sector. So-called “Drusianism” pervades much of the Cult Imperialis in the Calixian worlds, particularly those that are distant from Scintilla. Drusianism is a hard and uncompromising reading of the Imperial Creed, emphasizing the purifying quality of suffering, the power of holy relics, and the endurance of hardship. An ascetic and largely mystical tradition for the main part, it is somewhat at odds with the cult authorities on Scintilla, who hold to more traditionalist modes of worship but also claim the sector’s saint as their own. Importantly, Drusianism also has a strong “Calendite” influence and so holds the Emperor to be a complete and eternally divine being who predates even the birth of man. At a deep level, the uncompromising scholars and priests of the sect (in particular those trained for office on the bleak shrine world of Maccabeus Quintus) maintain that the Emperor’s order is the natural order of all things without exception. To them, spiritual truth is the only truth, as it supersedes mundane physical reality and locally imposed temporal laws---although they do hold that the basis of the Dictates Imperialis as “his word” is indeed divine. This belief often leads the sect’s adherents into conflict with the forces of authority, such as the nobility and the Combine Commercia, whose power lies outside of the cult or the core of the Adepta. Many hard-line Drusians consider the noble and mercantile classes to be fundamentally venial and corrupt by nature, and hold little regard for any power or supposed rights such individuals possess. Some adherents are known to tattoo the 999 Holy Words of Saint Drusus upon their bodies. 'The Footsteps of Drusus' Though no exact record of Drusus’s campaign in the Calixis Sector exist that tell of everywhere he went and all of what he did, there are many worlds that have become sacred to his memory. A path between these worlds, known as the “Footsteps of Drusus”, has long been established and a constant stream of pilgrims can be found “walking” it at any one time. It begins in the Golgenna Reach on the planet Scintilla. Each year, prospective pilgrims gather before the gates of the Cathedral of Illumination and members of the Ministorum move among them providing blessing of the saint and giving the pilgrims permission to being their journey. While such permission is mostly symbolic, there have been rare instances where a pilgrim has been denied the right to walk the footsteps of Drusus. This is usually as a result of some past crime that the Ministorum feels would stain the memory of Drusus. From here, the pilgrims march to the spaceport at Hive Tarsus. After ascending into orbit, pilgrims make a circuit of the core worlds of the Golgenna Reach---Sepheris Secundus, the Lathes and Iocanthos. On each of these planets, they travel to the places where Drusus is said to have made his landings and spend days in prayer. From the Golgenna Reach the pilgrimage then spirals out into the Drusus Marches where the journey becomes more dangerous, visiting Endrite and Tygress V. Pilgrims face real peril from both natives and local flora and fauna. The penultimate step sees the pilgrims descend to the dry surface of Maccabeus Quintus to see the shrines built where the man died and the legend of the saint began. Finally, the pilgrimage comes to its end on the world of Sentinel. Many of those who make it to the shrine world do not return. Exhausted by their travels, and without funds, they wander into the wastes to die and at last be at one with their saint. 'Drusian "Crusader" Chainsword' Manufactured by a variety of forge worlds, these popular weapons are a familiar sight throughout the edges of the sector where memories of Saint Drusus burn brightly. On Drusus Day, many shrines are crowded with multitudes of followers, raising their chainswords (or mock replicas for the poor or young) in the air in honor of his works and sacrifice. For those who seek to continue the crusade in the Expanse, the common weapon pattern uses a curved cutlass-like blade. Most are a holy silver in color, and favor a large spiked basket-guard to better smite the unclean xenos. Melee, 1d10+2, R, PEN 2, Tearing, Balanced, WT 7kg, Average 'Armor of the Sacred Guard' Legends and tales of the exploits of Drusus are numerous and varied; in a hundred different texts from a hundred different sources a scribe might find that none can agree on even simple things such as his eye colour, his favoured weapon, or his favoured lieutenants. One thing that does appear again and again however is the mention of a sacred honour guard which would follow the saint upon his holy work, staying close to him in battle and guarding his chambers while he was at rest. Though the names of these chosen men and women have been lost to time, stories tell of their courage and prowess in battle. Each was a hero in his own right, selected by the saint after an outstanding deed or sacrifice for the Emperor. As befitted their role as protectors of the saint, the sacred guard was outfitted with the finest weapons and armor the Imperium’s forge worlds could produce: boltguns of exquisite manufacture, power blades of sublime craftsmanship and power armor second only to that of the fabled Adeptus Astartes. As with Drusus himself, many are the false relics attributed to the sacred guard, ranging from fragments of bone and locks of hair to spent bolt casings and tarnished combat knives. Legend does tell, however, of a single suit of armor that somehow survived the march of time, taken by the faithful from the last of the sacred guard to die in the last battle they fought, shortly before the saint’s own demise. Pitted and battle-scarred, the archaic suit of gilt armor, emblazoned with symbols of the Emperor, is reputed to contain special qualities and the divine spark of Saint Drusus himself. Of course the location or exact nature of the armor is unknown, though stories and legends persist about its whereabouts somewhere within the wilds of the sector. The Armor of the Sacred Guard is a suit of ancient power armor covered in faded grandeur and tarnished icons. It is also badly damaged by battle: scored with burns and scarred by blades and bolt shells. Due to its general state of disrepair it counts as being of Poor Craftsmanship. In addition it has no functioning power pack (such is the uniqueness of its design it will not work with more common Imperial Technology) and so does not grant any bonus to strength and unless the wearer has a strength of 40 or more they will suffer a -10 to all Agility Tests and a -1 to their Agility Bonus (also reducing their movement). What the armor does possess is an undeniable air of divine power, a sacred power that seems to bleed from its very plates. A character with the Pure Faith Talent that dons the armor will receive its blessing for as long as he endures its broken weight. This grants him an addition point of Fate each game session which may only be spent (though not burnt) on activating Faith Talents. He also gains immunity to any psychic powers which would subvert or control his mind (though only while he wears the armor’s helmet). Finally, attacks from creatures with the Warp Weapons Trait do not ignore the sacred armor’s Armor as they would with normal defenses. 'Saint's Breath' Within the Calixis Sector few saints are revered as much as Drusus the Warrior; hero of the Avengin Crusade and twiceborn savior of the Imperium’s claim to the region. It is no surprise then that almost every world, church and cult lays some claim to the saint, whether it is because he slept a night in their city, drank from the waters of a fountain or touched a rock as he climbed a hill. Objects said to have been used or belong to the saint also abound and should a pilgrim have a mind he could no doubt assemble countless sets of clothing, broken weapons and enough bones to make numerous skeletons. Even within the church itself the validity of true Drusus relics is often questioned and sometimes bitterly disputed between worlds; each competing for the prestige of having a genuine article. Of course among the sea of false relics and charm seller’s rubbish, there do exist some true Drusian artefacts. One such fabled object is know as the Breath of the Divine Drusus upon His most Holy Works, or more commonly Saint’s Breath. Contained in a battered Imperial Guard issue canteen, now covered with holy icons and gilt with symbols of the creed, the story tells of how in the wake of a great battle, while Drusus took rest from his wounds, a cleric came and offered him water. As he drank, the saint filled the canteen with his labored breath from his holy exertions, and the cleric, realizing the sanctity of the moment, sealed the flask and spirited it away to the vault of his church for safe keeping, as even then the works of Drusus were becoming legend and his greatness was shining across the sector. Where the flask is now is unknown, but stories tell of it passing through the hands of countless faithful down the centuries. It is said that when the stopper is removed, the breath of the saint flows out filling the bearer with vigor and a divine endurance, just as Drusus commanded in his years of battle for humanity’s place among the stars. It is also said that such is the power of the saint’s breath that no matter how often the flask has been open his breath continues to flow, bonded with the flask and enduring the ages by virtue of its blessed origins. A member of the faith that opens the flask and breathes in the breath of the saint will find himself filled with a divine endurance unlike any he has felt before. He becomes immune to the effects of Stunning and Fatigue, he gains the Unnatural Toughness (x2) Trait, and he will automatically pass any Toughness Test he is required to make. The breath’s blessing lasts for the duration of the encounter. However, its power is limited, needing time to gather within the flask, and can only be used once per game session. 'Drusian Tomb Shard' The grand tomb of Drusus can be found within the Cathedral of Illumination on Scintilla. Of course there are countless lesser tombs scattered across the sector. All are said to hold a portion of the saint’s blessing and to touch a tomb to Drusus is considered very favourable. More favourable still is to possess a part of one of these tombs, leading to a thriving trade in Drusian tomb shards. These are small fragments of stone, allegedly chipped-off one of the saint’s tombs. The Ministorum outwardly frowns on the practices of defacing tombs, though it makes a small fortune each year in selling them. Where all the shards come from is a mystery and anyone who has seen the grand tomb on Scintilla will attest that it certainly looks “unsullied”. Likewise, many other Drusian tombs are constantly guarded to prevent such vandalism. Nevertheless, the market in tomb shards continues to prove very popular with the faithful. 'Bones of the First' When Drusus came to the Calixis Sector, he arrived at the head of an army many millions strong. These men and women fought and died at his side in the saint’s battles of conquest and liberation and were blessed for their service. The bones of these “first warriors” can still be found in reliquaries and shrines throughout the sector, often lending their names to towns and provinces where they settled after the conquest. It is said that they still hold the courage which Drusus instilled in them in life, and carrying a bone of one of the “first” is enough to steel a man before battle and calm the fearful with a touch. Whatever the case, bones of the first are among some of the most common relics to be found for sale within the sector. The fact that there were millions of dead makes it hard to disprove their authenticity. 'Hidden Truthes' There is another story, a story that is known in part by few and in whole by none. It is a story bound with lies, so that even the great Lords of the Holy Ordos Calixis do not know where truth begins and lies end. They know only that it is made of both, of truth and lies bound into a knot. It is a story of an old man of weakening health and a mundane mind given command of a mighty Crusade by virtue of old blood and the favor of dusty traditions. Under his failing will and weak strategies, millions died for little gain, and the forces of the Imperium were shamed. It is said that among the Inquisition were those unwilling to see such blood split to no end, who watched the pitiful scrabbling of a so-called crusade amongst dead stars and hateful worlds and decided that it could not be allowed to continue. These watchers picked another to be the hand of destiny, one with the will and personal power to forge mankind’s future amongst the unforgiving reaches of space. These Recongregators, it is said, made a deal with the darkest of powers in order to meet their ends. If this is to be believed, it was they who saved Drusus and began the whisperings of his favor in the sight of the Emperor, they who wielded the knife that removed the old and made space for the new. The story says that the Calixis Sector was born of their will and that Drusus was a saint not of the Emperor’s making but at the hands of hidden powers who charged a heavy price for their aid. Others respond that if the future need be bought by a lie, then it is a small price to pay. 'Prophetic Shadows' For years, whispers within the church have asserted that the tale of Drusus is not finished, and signs and portents have been observed which claim that the saint will one day rise again to right the wrongs of the sector and bring it back into the Emperor’s light. Though officially the Ministorum does not accept such tales, many within its ranks firmly believe that one day the saint will return. Such a possibility is one that is viewed with both joy and terror, as many fear the saint may be less than pleased with what has become of his domain.